Her visit paid dividends, with China and Germany signing a deal that will see Chinese airlines buy 130 jets manufactured by European planemaker Airbus Group SE.
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China and Germany are looking to sign a cybersecurity agreement similar to one that exists between the Asian nation and the United States, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
During her last day of stay her in China, the German Chancellor, accompanied by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, has visited the central Chinese province of Anhui.
Since 2005, Merkel as chancellor has paid seven visits to China, the most of any German chancellor. No details were given on the activists she met.
Analysts note that Airbus is battling US rival Boeing for the Chinese market, which is estimated to represent $1 trillion in commercial aircraft sales (over 6300 jets) in the next 20 years.
When President Xi Jinping visited the U.S. in September, President Obama made it known that the rising threat of cyberattacks from Chinese firms would “probably be one of the biggest topics” during their meeting.
China is a key market for both Airbus and Boeing, thanks to the growing demand for air travel there.
Li called on the two countries to cooperate more in innovative development and modern urbanisation as China encourages entrepreneurship to promote growth. “A consensus on expanding pragmatic cooperation with China has been reached among many practical politicians there”. Shi said that China and Germany as G20 members would further strengthen coordination in macroeconomic policy within the G20 framework, and work together to construct and maintain an open world economy as well as promote the establishment of a more equitable global economic governance system.
‘No Queen’Merkel’s visit comes in the middle of a whirl of diplomatic activity involving Beijing, and in a commentary the official Xinhua news agency raised the prospect of a “honeymoon” between China and Europe.
In advance of this weekend’s meeting, petitions have already been prepared within the conservative bloc calling on the government to limit the number of refugees entering the country, CDU politician Christian von Stetten told German newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold emergency talks with the leaders of her two coalition partners over the weekend in a bid to resolve a dispute over tackling the refugee crisis, which is threatening to tear apart her two year old government, as thousands of asylum seekers continued to stream into this country.
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China and Germany also pledged to set up a Sino-European stock exchange joint venture to promote the internationalization of the Renminbi.
